One Night
by theboringdolphin
Summary: Nico di Angelo and Percy Jackson ride the same train every morning and every night, it's routine, never changing, always the same. For three years. Until one night it all changes.


_Hello! Welcome to my new story! Yes, it's a one shot and not a multichapter story! _

_I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing a one shot, see how well I do..._

_Tell me what you think, constructive criticism is much appreciated!_

_Sorry for any spelling mistakes and grammatical errors._

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians_**

* * *

><p><em>One night, all it takes is one night to change your life forever.<em>

Everyday, it was the same everyday.

Nico would see him, all the time, every day at 9 am and then again every night at 10 pm.

The subway at this time, was always empty. Not too many people took this train to go into the more quieter parts of the city at this time of the night.

Nico saw him, sitting across from him, listening to music on his ear phones, tapping his foot to the rhythm. Like always.

That black, windswept hair that looked naturally unruly, tan skin that seemed to be adored by the sun unlike Nico's own incredibly pale skin tone. That lean body that was muscular without being too overwhelming and most of all, those piercing sea green eyes looked so crystal clear and resembled the ocean, dark and mysterious yet light and playful.

Like always when these two strangers would see each other upon boarding the subway, they would wave, a hi and bye thing. Never once having struck up conversation between each other in the three years since boarding the same train, getting on and off at the same stop, going up the same stairwell, and finally separating once they were back above ground level. They would always sit across from each other and sometimes, the green eyed male would smile at Nico in a kind way before going back to listening to his music.

They would both be seen listening to music, with their own headphones and devices out as they changed songs or replayed them.

In the three years since Nico started to go to college and work part time at a book store, riding this train to get to his classes and go to work only to take the same train to get back to his lonely apartment with only his dog, Mrs. O'Leary waiting for him, he had seemingly fallen in love at first sight when he gazed upon the sea green eyed male, who's name, Nico didn't know.

Conversation seemed a trivial thing to Nico, who was incredibly unsocial for the fact that he rarely found people he could stand to be around him, but never had he ever felt such an urge to make conversation with the male in front of him. If only for the fact that he could find out his name...

Nico wondered what type of music he liked to listen to, if he was straight, had anyone in his life that he was seeing, what type of person was he like, his personality, what did he do. Nico was filled with questions and he wanted answers to every single one of them.

It was a delusional pipe dream of his that would never come true, but he wanted nothing more than to speak with the sea green eyed male that always sat in front of him with his blue duffle bag as he tapped his foot in beat of the music.

...

Their stop came and Nico got up and stood by the doors, waiting alongside the sea green eyed male for the doors to open.

_"You have now reached Marble Hill, you have now reached Marble Hill." _A voice over the intercom spoke as the doors slid open and Nico and the sea green eyed male walked out.

They walked out and made their way to the exit, going up the many set of stairs until they were above ground. Nico turned to the sea green eyed male to give him a wave before going his separate way home, when he heard a silvery voice speak behind him,

"What's your name?" Nico looked over at the sea green eyed male, shock clearly evident on his face, his brown eyes wide.

Nico coughed as he felt his cheeks fill with color, his voice was very pleasant, he decided he should answer the tan male before he looked like a weirdo. "Nico di Angelo... you?"

"Percy Jackson," Percy smiled at Nico, he held out his hand, "nice to officially meet you."

Nico laughed nervously as he took Percy's hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too..."

"So, how old are you?" Percy asked as they stood there in the warm, spring night, talking.

"I'm 20, you?"

"I'm 22, I'll be turning 23 in August. Hey, you're close to being 21 soon, are you ready to party?" Percy grinned in a lopsided way that made him look adorably young, well younger than he already was.

"Um, not really..." Nico mumbled under his breath.

Percy frowned slightly, having heard Nico, "well why not?"

"Um... I'm not really the partying type..." Nico looked away, feeling odd because he was different.

"Oh. Well hey, that's cool. So, where do you usually come from?" Percy decided to change the subject.

"Washington Heights, you?"

"Same," Percy smiled down at him. "I work as a waiter for this restaurant, it's a steakhouse, what do you do? Are you in school?"

"Yeah, but I also work at a book store, it's called _Books Galore! _which is a pretty small but it's a nice and comfortable place." Nico looked around, trying to avoid looking Percy in the eyes, he was afraid of getting sucked in and hypnotized by those vivid sea green eyes.

"Nice, I might visit it one day, my girlfriend likes books... and well, her birthday is coming up in July... " Percy absentmindly looked down at the ground as he spoke of his girlfriend. Suddenly, he looked up at Nico and gave him a small smile, "do you have a girlfriend?"

Nico thought that the best thing to ever happen was talking to Percy and then it went downhill when he mentioned he had a girlfriend... and it got even worse when he was asked if _he _had a girlfriend... Nico mentally groaned as he blushed slightly. "Um... yeah, there aren't any girls in my life right now... or ever..."

"Oh, _oh!_" Percy felt his face flush, "my bad man, I just- I was-"

"It's okay," Nico smiled softly, "well I gotta go, I have school tomorrow and then work, I'll see you tomorrow Percy Jackson."

Nico turned to leave as he left a stumbling Percy behind, "wait, Nico di Angelo! It was nice meeting you, see you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The next day, Nico got on the train and saw Percy making his way inside.<p>

"Nico di Angelo, how are you doing?" Percy asked as soon as he zeroed in on Nico.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine, you?" Nico yawned lowly as he rubbed his eyes.

"Good, you look sleepy, did you get enough sleep last night?" Percy asked, looking Nico over.

"Uh," the brown eyed male blushed, "kinda?"

In truth, Nico had been too happy and filled with adrenaline about the fact that he had spoken to Percy to even go to sleep. He had been up almost all night, replaying the whole conversation. Sure, Percy mentioning he had a girlfriend had put a damper on Nico, but he had been able to talk to Percy and that's what really mattered. Needless to say, he went to sleep very, very late the night before.

"You have class all day today?" Percy asked him as the train moved along the rails.

"Until 3:30 and then I go to work, you, do you go to school?"

"I did, I'll be going this fall, I took a year off to just work but... I decided to go back. What are you majoring in?"

"English, I'm gonna be a writer, you?"

"I'm gonna be a marine biologist, so... I guess it goes with you..."

"Hm?" Nico asked Percy, a single eyebrow raised.

"That you would work in a bookstore and you want to be a writer..." Percy elaborated.

"Oh, yeah, I love reading and writing... just came naturally."

"Why do you want to be a marine biologist?" Nico asked Percy.

"I love the sea and I want to learn more, I mean, we know more about space than the ocean there's probably hundreds of species out there that we haven't discovered and the ocean runs so much deeper... I just want to explore it all... sorry I'm rambling," Percy blushed slightly.

Nico laughed softly, "no it's okay, I don't mind."

* * *

><p>Nico waited for the train to come at 10. He was sitting alone on a bench, a book in his hand, waiting patiently.<p>

Suddenly, someone sat next to him but he didn't bother to see who it was as he was into his book at the moment, besides, if he did look up to see how it was, that person might want to have a conversation with Nico and he for one, couldn't bother with that.

"Wow," a familiar voice spoke, "you're really into your book, you didn't even look up to see who sat next to you, for all you know, it could've been a mugger or something." Amusement laced the words of Percy Jackson as Nico looked at him, a small smile gracing his face.

"Hi."

"Hi." Percy smiled at him.

"Did you just come out of work?" Nico asked, and then mentally slapped himself because, _duh, _of course Percy had just come out of work.

"Yeah, it was pretty busy today for some reason..."

"Well, summer is here so people do tend to stay out later."

"Yeah but it's a Wednesday night," Percy whined and then turned to Nico, "how was your day by the way?"

"It was fine, not too slow but not too busy either."

The train approached and Percy and Nico both stood up to get on it. The doors slid open and in they went, Nico sat in his usual spot and thought Percy would sit in _his _own spot, but he didn't anticipate Percy to sit down next to him. He watched from the corner of his eye as Percy slid into the seat next to Nico and silently tap his foot as the doors closed and the train started moving.

"So, do you have a lot friends?" Percy asked after a while.

"Um... just two, well one, the other one is my step sister. I'm not really- social.. no, I said that wrong, there's rarely so few people I can actually stand."

Percy looked at Nico for a second before laughing, and Nico stared on in confusion.

"Wow," Percy spoke once he controlled his laughter, "that's unexpected, but I do appreciate how blunt you are. Besides, now you have three friends. I'm your friend, I mean- I hope you can stand me...?"

Nico smiled softly at Percy, "yeah, I think I can stand you, if not, then I'll just ignore you from here on out." Nico laughed lowly at Percy's expression once he heard what he said.

"We should hang out sometime, here let me give you my number okay?" Percy dug out his phone and Nico decided to do the same, all the while his heart pounded in his chest.

"O-okay..."

...

Nico opened the door to his apartment and slid inside. Mrs. O'Leary barked happily as she saw her owner and ran to him, jumping up on her hind legs as she tried to lick Nico's face.

"Hey girl, miss me?" Nico asked softly as his dog gave bark.

She soon got off of Nico as he made his way into the kitchen, passing by his living room and dumping his things on the couch. Nico went over to his wooden cabinet and reached for the canned dog food. Like always, Nico left out kibble on two bowls and three bowls of water for Mrs. O'Leary to eat and drink from, asking his neighbor to watch her from time to time and walk her, paying the 15 year old girl, Kimberly who lived with her mother $30 weekly.

"Are ya hungry girl?" Nico asked as he started to pour the canned food into a foam bowl and put it in the microwave to heat it up. Mrs. O'Leary barked happily as her tail wagged back and forth, awaiting those 30 seconds until her food would be put in a bowl.

Nico poured the meat into her bowl and Mrs. O'Leary attacked it, "good girl."

The brown eyed boy walked back to the living room and grabbed his things off of the black leather couch, making his way into his bedroom. It was a one bedroom apartment, with wooden floors, a nice sized kitchen, living room and bedroom and one bathroom that was big. Nico turned on the lights to his bedroom and walked over to his walk-in closet where he put his things away. His desk was all cluttered with projects he was working on, his computer for the moment was off, and his dark brown curtains were open. Nico went over to them and closed them. He began to take off his clothes and decided a nice, warm bath would be good. Kim had already walked Mrs. O'Leary for the night and Nico could now just relax.

He went to start a bath, letting the water get warm and fill up the tub as he waited.

The brown eyed boy went back to the conversation he and Percy had while riding the train.

They had exchanged numbers and Percy had said he wanted to hang out tomorrow, since it seemed that it was both of their days off. Nico briefly wondered what they were going to do and then thought that it seemed kinda like a date except... Percy already had a girlfriend, not to mention he was irrevocably straight.

Nico slid into the tub now that it was done filling up and poured some bath bubbles into it. He would never admit to Hazel; his step sister ever since Persephone entered Hades' life. Nico really did consider her his sister even if they weren't related; but the present she had given him, which were these bath bubbles really soothed his aching body.

Today hadn't been too busy but Nico had to do inventory and so his muscles ached from having to lift up heavy boxes that contained new books which would be put out sometime next week. He really needed this bath.

Nico closed his eyes as he let himself relax in the bathtub, his thoughts consumed by tonight and what would happen tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Morning, I hope you're ready to have fun today? I've got a whole thing planned! (:<strong>

Nico looked over at his phone as he stirred his coffee, Percy had texted him which surprised Nico because Percy seemed like the type to sleep in on his days off.

Nico didn't have any classes for today, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday being the only days he didn't have class at all.

Yesterday night, as he relaxed in his bath, Nico tried to mentally prepare himself for today. The fact that Percy wanted to hang out still fresh on his mind.

They were to meet up at 12 pm, so Nico had about two hours to get ready and loathe in the fact that he was going to hang out with his crush of three years and that it would mean nothing to him because he had a girlfriend who was probably beautiful.

Nico must have the absolute worst luck of all.

...

"Hey Nico!" Nico turned to the sound of his name being called and saw Percy making his way over to him.

They would be meeting up at the entrance to the train station that they both took, it seemed the most convenient.

"Hey Percy," Nico raised his hand and waved at him awkwardly but if Percy noticed, he didn't say anything.

"Are you ready?" Percy asked Nico, giving the brown eyed boy a bright smile that made his heart pound.

Nico trust himself to speak, so he merely nodded his head.

"Great, let's go." Percy led the way down the set of stairs, talking about how much they were going to have or so he hoped.

They made their way to the platform and waited for the train, which would be there in 2 minutes according to the electronic billboard that showed the time for their train and for the other train going somewhere else.

"So, did you get any sleep last night? Yesterday morning you seemed so tired and well..." Percy rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh yeah, I got more sleep last night." Nico lied as he gave Percy a small smile.

Nico could barely shut down his brain the night before but it was better than the first night since Percy had decided to talk to him.

"Good." Percy smiled down at him.

Their height differences were obvious. Percy was so much taller than Nico, the brown eyed boy was only 5'7 probably 5'8 at the most. He briefly wondered how tall Percy was...

The train came and stopped, Percy and Nico moved along with others also boarding the train. Today was unusually crowded, so Percy and Nico had to stand. Unfortunately, it seemed as though luck wasn't on Nico's side today, seeing as he was shoved and was pressed up against Percy who only smiled down at him. He seemed completely oblivious as to wrong this looked and how uncomfortable Nico felt. Just great, not to mention it would be a long ride to Washington Heights...

The train finally grew spacious as people got off at different stops. Percy found two seats available for them and dragged Nico over to sit down.

"So, do you have any siblings?" Percy asked as soon as they sat down.

Nico grimaced slightly. He really didn't want to talk about it, and he couldn't get mad at Percy seeing as how he didn't know.

"Um, I don't really... like to talk about it..." Nico said quietly.

Percy seemed to have caught on, "o-oh okay, sorry-"

"No, it's not your fault." Nico interrupted him, "it's okay."

"Bad way to start the day huh?" Percy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"No, it's fine, really," Nico insisted.

The rest of the train was silent.

...

They got off at their usual stop and soon, Percy led the way to a diner.

"I figured, before we get the day started, we could maybe have breakfast? Lunch? Brunch?" Percy laughed softly.

Nico smiled at him and nodded his head, "sounds good."

They went inside and were seated in a table near the window where Nico could see cars passing by, going who knows where to do who knows what.

A waitress came over and started to take their orders, she was obviously flirting with Percy but he seemed completely oblivious or maybe, he chose to ignore it due to him being loyal and having a girlfriend. Nico decided to go with the latter.

Percy ordered blueberry pancakes with scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon, ham and sausage and orange juice. Nico ordered chocolate chip waffles with a side of bacon, toast and ham, and ordered himself coffee.

As they waited for their food to come, Percy started to talking about his life.

He had a mother named Sally Jackson, who he adored, a step father named Paul Blofis; his mom and step dad were going to be married soon, he had a younger brother named Tyson. He was friends with with great people, he had known his girlfriend since highschool and they were the best of friends before even going out; personally Nico didn't need to hear that. He used to be on the swim team and was made captain. His best friend was Grover Underwood and he was an environmentalist along with his girlfriend Juniper. Percy also mentioned how pretty soon, he wanted Nico to meet all of his friends.

Nico didn't really say much about himself, but he did say his dad was a writer, guess that was why he wanted to be a writer himself. He had a step mom who was very nice, his dad's name was Hades and his step mom was Persephone, they had married about two years ago. She worked as a florist and owned a flower shop. He didn't dare mention his mom or sister...too many emotions and memories were held just at the mention of their names...

Their food came and pretty soon, they started to dig in. Nico briefly wondered what else would they be doing today.

...

"I used to love going to the aquarium as a kid, still do, I thought maybe we could go to one for today. I haven't been to an aquarium in ages..." Percy absentmindedly said, rubbing his chin as Nico and him waited in line to buy their tickets.

"Sounds fun, I haven't been to one in so long..." Nico's mind went back to a time when his mother and sister were alive.

Maria and Bianca di Angelo. Hades had been so in love with Maria, she was the love of his life, his light on a dark and gloomy day. She was a beautiful woman, stunning really. She had brunette hair, with light brown eyes that used to twinkle in the sunlight, fair skin, rosy cheeks, a slim figure... a wonderful mother. Bianca looked a bit like mom and dad put together, she had their mother's eyes, albeit a bit darker, porcelain skin, slim figure and dark, dark hair like Hades. Nico always did resemble their father, the same pale skin although his had a tinge of olive to it, same brooding dark eyes, same midnight black hair, he had bags under his eyes that were a lot more visible now that he was working and going to school, but they gave his face definition, making his eyes seem more prominent and stand out.

Nico went back to a time when all four family members went out together. To the aquarium. It was around the time when Nico was 9 years old. With an awed look upon his face he watched the many different types of species that lived inside these tanks, swim about. The ocean housed so many different species no one in this world knew exactly how many undiscovered fish and creatures all lived in the vast sea. Nine year old Nico went running from tank to tank chased by his loving yet smothering sister who chided Nico from time to time, saying he would get lost if wandered too far. Meanwhile, Maria and Hades looked about at the creatures, smiling, holding hands, looking at each other in a loving way. Hades was not quick on showing emotions, but Maria had a way of bringing them out of him.

The brown eyed boy remembered seeing an Orca, astonished by the enormity that was the killer whale, in awe at how beautiful it looked. He remembered seeing the sting rays, jelly fish, schools of fish all in different colors of red, blue, orange and yellow. He remembered getting scared at seeing the different sharks, swimming about, showing off their predatory eyes and killer teeth.

"Nico?" Percy snapped said male out of his daydream by shaking his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah..."

"Well, the line is moving, come on."

They entered through the doors and saw people milling about.

"Are you ready?" Percy asked Nico in a giddy tone, excited like a child who just won a trip to Disney Land.

"Yeah." Nico couldn't help but smile at Percy.

Off the two boys went, exploring the aquarium.

* * *

><p>"I really liked going to the aquarium, I haven't been there in ages and I had fun." Percy laughed softly as Nico and him made their way to McDonald's. "Did you have fun?"<p>

"I did, the last time I was there was when I was 9."

They sat down at a booth and started eat their food.

"So, have you ever uh- had a boyfriend...?" Percy asked Nico, sounding awkward. "Okay, that came out wrong..."

Nico stared at Percy, a single eyebrow raised.

"I meant like... uh, I'm just curious because like... I just mean you- nevermind just- don't answer my question..."

Nico laughed softly, "yeah I had a boyfriend before, but just one, I dated him for three years before we broke up. It was mutual, we grew apart."

"Oh, well... sorry to hear that.."

"It's fine."

...

They walked back to the train station and patiently waited for the train to get there.

"So, wanna come over to my place and watch a movie?" Percy suddenly asked Nico, surprising him.

"Sure," Nico said, shock evident on his face.

"I mean, it's pretty early and well, I like hanging out with you," Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he gave a small smile to Nico.

"Thanks," Nico felt himself blush, starting to feel a bit flustered, "I- I like hanging out with you too."

Percy smiled at him then, a sort of lopsided grin and it made Nico's heart beat faster.

The train came then, and the two boys boarded the train, it was a bit crowded for this time of day and so they ended up having to stand most of the way home.

Once off the train and going up the stairs to ground level, they stopped at the top of the entrance to the subway, where Nico and Percy usually separated ways. Nico followed Percy as he went his way. They passed by a convenience store, a liquor store, a small bar that seemed to be filled with men mostly seeing as how utterly loud and the smell was unbearable.

They walked three blocks down and soon, Percy started to go up the few stairs that led to a nice looking apartment building, not as nice as Nico's own apartment complex but still. They went straight through and Nico saw Percy lived on the first floor.

He opened the door and let Nico in first. Percy's apartment was nice looking, a bit small but cozy and warm. He had a nice couch, well more like a loveseat, it was blue and there was a blue blanket draped across it, as if Percy sometimes slept there. The kitchen was next and it had plain white cabinets and a white countertop, the stove was plain and he had a plain fridge, not like Nico's own fridge which was a bit newer. The floors were tiled all throughout the apartment.

"Sorry about the mess, I really wasn't expecting someone to come over and well, I kinda invited you over on a whim..." Percy said as he started to put some dishes that he had left out in the sink.

"No, it's fine, I don't mind."

"Well, if you go to the living room, I have this shelf filled with movies and video games, so pick out a movie you wanna see and we'll watch it."

"Okay."

Nico walked over to the shelf that was to side, near Percy's tv and looked through the titles. He saw many movies, ranging from scary movies to Disney movies to Pixar films and many more. Nico came across the movie Identity Thief and picked it up. He had wanted to see this movie when it came out but he didn't have the time and he never got the chance to rent it out. Then next to it, he saw The Heat, and picked that out too. He was stuck between wanting to see The Heat and Identity Thief...

"So," Percy came back from the kitchen, "did you pick out which ones you want to see?"

"I can't pick between these two," Nico held up both movies and showed them to Percy.

"Oh, I see," he chuckled slightly, "well, if you want, we can see one tonight and one another time?"

"Hm, okay."

In the end, Nico picked to see Identity Thief and they both sat down to watch the movie, Nico fully conscious how close he was to Percy yet so far away and never getting any closer because he was undeniably straight and had a girlfriend.

...

"Thanks for today, I don't usually go out but I had fun today," Nico said as they walked to his house. Percy had insisted on walking Nico at least half way.

"No problem, I had fun too. I like hanging out with you and I want to do this again." They stopped when they were four blocks away from Nico's street, to the entrance of the subway they always took.

"Yeah, me too."

"I think we're gonna be great friends."

* * *

><p><em>Friends.<em>

Just friends. Never anything more than friends.

Nico was deluding himself into thinking they would ever be anything more than friends.

It had been two months since they became _friends _and had started to hang out that Nico had been trying so hard to swallow that hope that Percy wanted more than just friendship... and of course his reasoning behind that had been because of how close Percy seemed to stick to Nico.

Today, Percy had asked Nico to meet him at a small party his friend was having. At first Nico had refused because he really didn't want to go to some random party he wasn't invited to but Percy wasn't taking no for an answer. And so, Nico was forced to join in the _merriment _of this party, watching these college kids get drunk as they danced with each other. Nico would admit that it was rather small, only about twenty to thirty or so partygoers that milled about.

The place the party was held at belonged to a guy named Leo Valdez, a Latino male with tan skin, wild, curly hair, dark brown eyes, a mischievous smile and pointy ears, his features looking a bit elfish. Nico had gone to the party with Percy as he talked about how excited he was that Nico had come along.

Once inside, Percy had gone off in search of someone, Nico forgot who and told Nico to stay put, he would be back soon. So, he stay put. Mostly because he barely knew anyone other than Leo whom he only met for just two seconds and then disappeared to who knows where.

Nico sat down on the couch where two other people drank from a red cup and talked to each other, when suddenly, he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Nico?"

Nico turned to the sound of the voice that called him and saw a blond male with azure blue eyes, fair skin and a friendly smile, his upper lip marred by a small scar that happened when he tried to eat a stapler.

"Jason?"

"Hey man, what are you doing here?" Jason asked as he came closer to Nico and patted the brown eyed boy on the back.

"Uh, I'm here with a friend, I don't think I told you about him... his name is Percy Jackson... what are you doing here?" Nico asked his long time friend Jason.

"I'm friends with Leo and he invited me to his party... Percy Jackson, huh? That name sounds familiar..." Jason rubbed his chin, "well, I'm glad you're getting out more, I only ever see you at school now."

"Nico!" Nico heard his name being called and Nico turned to see Percy make his way towards the brown eyed boy, a blonde girl following after him.

"Oh, it's Percy, I know him." Jason said.

"How?" Nico asked him.

"Leo introduced him once," Jason shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey Nico, hey... Jason, it _is _Jason right?" Percy shook hands with the blond.

"Yeah, hey man."

"You know Nico?" Percy asked him.

"Yeah, since high school, although recently he's been hiding from me," Jason narrowed his eyes at Nico and Nico felt his cheeks fill with color.

"Oh," Percy blinked in surprise, "well, hey, meet my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase."

The sea green eyed boy stepped aside as a blonde girl, with striking grey eyes, fair skin and a slim figure smiled at both Nico and Jason.

"So, you're the famous Nico," she smiled at him in a friendly way, "hey, I'm Annabeth, nice to finally meet you. Percy's been talking about you nonstop."

Percy blushed as Annabeth mentioned that little nugget of information as she chuckled.

"Hey," Nico shook her hand that she held out for him, "yeah and I've heard a lot about you." That was a lie, Percy barely mentioned her but when he did, it was mostly about some fight that had happened between them. Lately the fights had been happening a lot more frequently. They started mostly a few weeks after Annabeth's birthday back in July, right now it was close to the end of August. Percy's birthday had passed and he had spent it with Annabeth and friends, Nico had been working and getting ready to go back to school, so he didn't join Percy on his actual birthday. He had spent it the next day with Percy and had given him a birthday present. He had given Percy a goldfish. He didn't know why he had given Percy a goldfish or what possessed him to think that that would be a good idea, in the though, Percy surprisingly loved his gift.

Suddenly a song came on and Annabeth dragged Percy to the dancefloor as Nico watched on from the sidelines.

...

The party had been okay to say the least and Nico left a bit early, with Jason, he could tell Nico had been upset for some reason although why, Nico wouldn't say.

The next day, Nico was working the morning shift at the bookstore, since the person who usually worked the mornings couldn't come in that morning early and asked Nico to work her shift, saying she would make it up to him. It was around 4 pm and Nico was busy fixing some books, the day was agonizingly slow when suddenly he heard the bell ding and Nico slowly made his way to the front of the store. He was surprised to see Percy standing there, looking around.

"Hey," Percy said as he noticed Nico walk his way.

"Hi." Nico said awkwardly, both boys just stood there, not saying anything.

"So, uh, you left the party early.. I was looking for you when Leo said he saw you leave with Jason..."

Nico nodded his head, "yeah, I did leave early..."

"D-did you not like it?" Percy asked him, he looked a bit down at the thought of Nico not liking the party.

"Uh, no it was- um fun? But you know how I mentioned before that I'm not the party type?" Percy nodded his head, "so yeah, that's kinda why I left so early."

"Oh."

They stayed quiet for a bit longer, the silence was extremely uncomfortable and Nico was about to say something to break this endless silence when Percy spoke.

"Well, I'll see you tonight? At the train?"

"Definitely," Nico smiled softly at Percy.

Percy waved goodbye as he left the bookstore and Nico let out a puff of air he didn't know he had been holding.

In truth, Nico had left the party for another reason other than him feeling absolutely uncomfortable, and that was because he couldn't bear to see Percy and Annabeth together. She had been nice and funny, she wasn't shallow and she didn't care that Percy and Nico were spending so much time together. She had been so nice to Nico when she wasn't busy dancing or fooling around with Percy and she was extremely intelligent. But still, Nico couldn't see them together, for some unknown reason, it stung his heart to see Percy with someone else.

So Nico left, bothered by the fact that he had felt completely invisible to Percy the whole night as he hung with his girlfriend...

* * *

><p>Nico waited outside Percy's apartment building in the surprisingly cold afternoon as the October wind blew through the skies of New York, shaking leaves off of trees, blowing dust into a person's eyes, bringing forth the cold that would soon settle in New York as December and January came closer.<p>

Percy had asked Nico to come over for a horror movie marathon since Halloween was just around the corner, and so here he was, waiting for Percy to open the door. Why Percy had suddenly asked the brown eyed boy to come over was beyond Nico, but it felt nice. Sure, they had gotten even closer than before, Percy had gotten a bit touchy-feely with Nico, but the brown eyed boy just surmised that Percy was like that with every one of his friends.

The door swung open and Nico saw Percy standing there, with only a navy blue sweater and dark gray sweatpants, his hair ruffled as he had just crawled out of bed. Nico blushed momentarily at the thought of waking up to Percy and shook his head to get his mind off of the subject.

"Hey," Percy smiled at Nico as he let the brown eyed boy come in.

"Hey." They made their way through the narrow hall as Nico walked on to Percy's apartment, already knowing it and not being shy since he had come over often, mostly on days when Percy and him would hang out but Percy was still asleep so Nico would go over, wake him up and then they'd be on their way.

"So, are you ready for the marathon tonight? I've got food, of all kinds, went shopping and bought _all _of the good stuff. Resse's cups, M&M's, Hershey's both milk chocolate and oreo cookies and cream, I've got popcorn, cookies-"

"Actual food? Do you have any of that?" Nico cut Percy off, an easy smile on his face.

Percy rolled his eyes at Nico, "yes mom, got plenty of that too." He stuck out his tongue at Nico as he went to the kitchen to grab some drinks.

"Pick a movie to start the night with," he called from the kitchen and Nico went over to the tons of movies on Percy's coffee table, laying about in a messy pile.

_The Conjuring _was the first movie Nico saw and so, he picked that one.

Percy came back with a tray of some of the goodies he bought and four cans of soda.

"So, The Conjuring is it?" Percy asked as Nico grabbed the remote and waited for the movie to load.

"Yep."

"Okay, but next, we're watching _As Above, So Below,_" Percy threw a smirk over at Nico.

"Okay."

All night, the two boys spent it watching movies, talking to each other about mundane things going on in their lives, joking with each other and on one occasion, they were throwing popcorn into their mouths to see of they could catch it. They were so caught up in their own activities, they didn't notice the time and when they did, Nico quickly got up to leave only to be stopped by Percy grasping his wrist.

"I gotta go home, my dog, she's alone..."

"It's late out, and don't you have someone who takes care of her, could you ask that person to look after through the night?" Percy asked Nico, tightening his hold on Nico's wrist.

"Uh, I guess..." the brown eyed boy chewed on his bottom lip.

"Stay the night?" Percy looked at Nico, "it's too late to be walking out alone at this time, stay the night over my place?"

Nico tried hard to fight off the blush that threatened to make it's way onto his face.

"U-uh, okay..."

"Awesome, if you want, you can use my bed and I could sleep on the couch?" Percy offered, but Nico shook his head saying he'd be fine on the couch.

He didn't think he could handle it if he stayed in Percy's room.

Percy came back a few minutes later and handed Nico some clothes for him to change into so that he'd be more comfortable.

"I tried to find some your size, but well... those were the only small ones I could find... you're pretty small for a 20 year old." Percy reached out and touched Nico by the back of his neck, as if feeling how skinny Nico was. All too soon, Percy's hand left Nico and with it, a feeling of warmth soon turning cold by the loss of contact.

The next morning, Nico awoke to the smell of pancakes and he rubbed his eyes awake as he stood up and followed the smell of cooking food. In the kitchen, there stood Percy, cooking breakfast as music played loud enough for Percy to hear yet soft enough that it didn't wake Nico up.

"Hey," Nico said, sitting on a bar stool near the kitchen table.

"Oh, mornin' sunshine, you're finally awake."

"Shut the fuck up Jackson," Nico rolled his eyes but he couldn't help the smile that came on his face.

Percy's smile only grew.

* * *

><p><em>Halloween.<em>

The night of nights where all things scary were welcomed, everyone, delighted by the mania of getting frightened, the idea was a goal most people wanted to reach while others did the scaring. A night where you could be someone different, someone other than your usual, boring self. You dress like a skank and it would all be looked at in the spirit of Halloween, you could dress like the ultimate scary costume and you'd be cheered, congratulated even.

Nico trudged on his costume, he was a pirate for the night; Hazel having picked out his costume and making him wear it, especially since he was yet again invited to another party by Percy, who pleaded that Nico come lest it'd be a crime in itself if he didn't show up. The Italian boy reached the house he had been to the first time he had met Annabeth and knocked on the door, waiting for Leo to open it.

The brown eyed boy's costume consisted of an off-white, loose shirt that was tucked in black pants that clung tightly to his legs, black boots that reached to his knees, a red bandana around his head, a fake sword at his side, a dark velvety overcoat over his body, the color of burgundy.

"Hey man," Leo opened the door of his house, "sick costume, come in."

Nico stepped inside, people were around all in different costumes, the lighting was dark, the music loud, the smell of alcohol filled the air.

"Nico!" The Italian spun around and came face to face with Percy, wearing a Superman costume.

"Hey Perce."

"You came!" Percy beamed at him as Nico nodded his head, "and you're a pirate." Percy looked over his outfit, Nico could feel his eyes raking over Nico's figure and he felt his cheeks fill with color. "Nice," he whispered.

"Whoa, nice costume Neeks," Nico turned to see Grover, Percy's best friend whom he had met about a month ago. Grover Underwood was a skinny guy but he was extremely tall. He had light brown hair and a goatee framed his face, his light brown eyes shined in the low lighting and Nico guessed it was all due to him drinking alcohol.

"Thanks."

"Come on, let's get some drinks." Percy grabbed Nico by his wrist and dragged him off to the kitchen.

...

The whole night had been a blur. Nico could only remember bits and pieces here and there. He remembered Percy had told him to slow down but he wouldn't listen. What had caused Nico to lose control over his intake of alcohol? Suddenly, like a bad aftertaste, the memory of Annabeth and Percy kissing in the hallway came back to the front of Nico's mind. He had been minding his own business, just wanting to use the bathroom when he saw them in the far end of the hallway, neither of them noticed him and he slipped away, forgetting he had to use the bathroom. That _kiss _forever seared into his mind. And so, the steady consumption of alcohol followed as Nico tried to forget that kiss. He had no idea why he was even feeling that way but some part of him told him it was heart breaking to see Percy kiss Annabeth which seemed ridiculous considering she was his girlfriend. Percy had _never _been his, and he never would his.

He just felt depressed and sad and the more he drank the more the pain felt numb so he kept drinking. He didn't want to feel pain.. he didn't want to feel anything.

"Nico? Are you okay?" Percy's voice came flooding back.

Suddenly, bright lights stung Nico's eyes and barking could be heard.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" That was Kim.

"I'm a friend of Nico's he's having a bit of... trouble keeping himself awake?"

"Uh huh, _sure, _well I'm glad he's home safe, Mrs. O'Leary is now your problem dude." And with that she left Percy alone.

Nico stumbled around a bit and Percy held him by his waist, keeping him upright as much as he could.

"Okay, easy now, let's go to your room and get you out of these clothes and into your PJs," Percy hobbled with Nico to his room as Mrs. O'Leary followed them.

Nico threw himself on his bed and almost fell off it, if it weren't for Percy catching him that is.

"Come on Nico."

The brown eyed boy started to laugh and Percy stared at him in an incredulous way. Mrs. O'Leary came up and laid down next to Nico.

"Hey girl." Nico crawled over to his dog and rubbed her neck. "I... miss... her..."

Nico started to suddenly cry.

Percy looked over in shock as tears started to flow down Nico's face.

"Hey, Neeks, why are you crying? Who do you miss?" Percy started to wipe away at Nico's eyes.

"Mrs. O'Leary used to be our dog, now... she's just mine... because that stupid accident _took_... her," Nico's voice cracked at the end.

"Who did it take?"

"My mom... my sister... Bianca..." the brown eyed boy whispered.

Percy was stunned silent by the drunken confession. He hadn't expected to find out about Nico this way, it felt wrong because he wasn't conscious of his thoughts and he was exposing himself when he probably didn't want to.

"I- I lost them when I was 16... they- they went out to buy some things for my... freaking birthday! Bianca... she and I- we had a fight the day before... it was all so stupid and then... the next day she was dead! It's not fair, _not fair,_ not fair!"

"Nico, calm down, please, calm down... I- I'm sorry about your mom and your sister.." Percy felt lost on what to do, he felt pain and sorrow that Nico had to go through that... suddenly, he was hugging Nico from behind and whispering into his ear that everything would be fine. Nico turned over in Percy's arms and sobbed into his chest.

Percy didn't know what on earth possessed him to be so intimate with Nico, what had caused Percy to hug him from behind as he used to do with Annabeth?

Eventually Nico calmed down long enough and went to sleep. Percy used that opportunity to disentangle himself from the smaller boy and walk over to the kitchen. He wrote a note on a piece of paper and left it on the kitchen table. Then Percy slipped out and went back home. He had some thinking to do.

Once home, Percy paced his floor back and forth. He couldn't shake off the feeling he had as he held Nico in his arms. It wasn't exactly a bad feeling... but it felt weird... not at all how it felt when he held Annabeth in his arms nowadays.

Their relationship was on the rocks, it had been for a while now... they were drifting apart and at first Percy had been so scared to lose her but now... it just felt like a battle that he was still fighting while Annabeth gave up long ago, wondering how long Percy would keep on fighting before he too gave up. Percy just didn't care so much now as he used to and Annabeth was feeling the same way. In public, they still appeared to be good, because they didn't want to burden their friends with the fact that their relationship was over.

There no longer was a thrill to kissing Annabeth, holding her, even being near her... nothing was there, not like how it used to be...

It really was over.

Nico. Nico had somehow ingrained himself into Percy's life. He had somehow snuck his way under Percy's skin and now.. he was there to stay. All those days hanging out when they could, just being around him made Percy feel alive and then tonight happened.

And it made it so much clearer now, especially after that little session with Annabeth back at the party.

She had wanted to kiss Percy one last time before she made her decision on whether this relationship would continue or not. Percy surprised himself because not only did it not hurt to hear those words from Annabeth, but he felt like he didn't care whether their relationship survived or not. He was just so tired and honestly, it felt like more work trying to convince himself he was happy when he clearly wasn't.

She had kissed him and he didn't feel anything for her anymore... he didn't feel the way he used to feel for her, his feelings were gone.

He sank down on his couch and ran his fingers through his hair. Some part of him felt fleeting feelings whenever he was around Nico, ones of excitement. He was confused and he didn't know what to do anymore...

* * *

><p>Nico awoke with the worst hangover ever... his only hangover ever since he rarely drank alcohol. He made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water and take some medicine. After downing a glass of water with Aspirin he finally noticed the note that Percy left on the kitchen table.<p>

_Hey, Nico I hope you're feeling better call me when you get the chance._

_-Percy_

Nico put the note down and decided to call Percy to thank him for bringing him home last night. The phone rang once, twice, three times until it was picked up and Percy's deep voice rang out.

_"Hey," _Percy spoke and Nico couldn't help but shiver at how his voice affected the brown eyed boy.

"Hi- uh, I just w-wanted to say thanks for bringing me home last night."

_"No problem, how are you feeling?"_

"I have a massive hangover and I feel sick to my stomach... there's a pounding in my head... I feel horrible."

Percy chuckled softly, _"I'll come over later okay? We can hang out, sound good?"_

Nico's heart soared and he nodded his head even though Percy couldn't see, "sounds good, see you later."

They hung up and Nico couldn't help but feel happy that Percy wanted to spend the day with him. Then the memories of why he even drank in the first place came back. He had seen Annabeth and Percy kiss and it looked like they loved each other, like they were made for each other. Jealousy coursed through him and he had to snap out of it, he knew Percy wasn't his and so he couldn't feel jealous, he didn't have the right to.

* * *

><p>Around November, Nico decided it was time to move on from Percy. He couldn't stay hung up on him, especially since Percy and Annabeth seemed to be going smoothly. They still hung out, that didn't change but Nico desperately needed to get over Percy. He had to. Around that time was also when Nico noticed he would have a particular someone visit the bookstore every chance he got. It was a blond male, with curly, golden hair, blue eyes that rivaled the sky, and tan skin. His name was Will Solace and he would always be just a little bit more than friendly with Nico.<p>

On a particular day, Will came in as usual, and walked right up to Nico, and asked him out on a date. Nico was taken aback but he agreed nonetheless, hoping that he would finally get over his stupid crush on Percy.

That Friday night, Will took Nico out to see a movie, where they held hands as they watched a romantic comedy and although Nico had fun, he felt a bit anxious as he held hands with Will.

Next, Will took them to a steakhouse to have dinner. As they waited for their waiter, they started to talk. Will was studying to become a surgeon and had already been accepted into med school. Will had an older brother, whom he was close with and his parents were alive but divorced.

"Good evening, my name is- Nico?" Nico turned to the sound of his name being called by an all too familiar voice.

Percy stood there looking from Will to Nico and back.

"Uh, hey Percy..."

"Hi."

"Y-you work in _this _steakhouse?" Nico asked him as his cheeks began to fill with color. He had never bothered to ask Percy where he worked at no matter how many times they had hung out.

"Yeah... what are you doing here?"

"Uh- I'm on a d-date..."

"Oh."

"Hi, I'm Will, nice to meet you. Are you two friends?" Will asked as he introduced himself to Percy.

"Yeah, we are..." Percy said as he shook Will's hand, "so, are you ready to order?"

They ordered their food and Percy disappeared, going from table to table but he couldn't focus on anything other than the date Nico was on...

Nico tried to distract himself but Percy plagued his mind all evening, never leaving him alone long enough to pay full attention to Will.

They left that night and Percy watched them leave, wondering how long Nico and that Will guy had been dating... and how had he not noticed.

...

"So, how did your date go?" Percy asked one night as he and Nico were over Percy's house, playing video games.

"Um... pretty good..." Nico said slowly.

Percy frowned slightly, "so... is he your... boyfriend?"

"Um... it's not official..."

"Have you gone out on more dates?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just asking."

"Why?!"

"I'm-"

"I don't ask you about your dates with Annabeth."

"I-"

"It's not like you're my boyfriend or anything to ask me about this either!" Nico got up, grabbed his coat and stomped out.

"Nico! Wait!"

He was out the door and Percy groaned in frustration.

What was wrong with him? Why did he keep pestering Nico with these questions? Why did he feel so _jealous? _Seriously, what was wrong with him? He needed to apologize to Nico as soon as possible. But... these feelings that he had been harboring... they were getting stronger and he didn't know what to do... Annabeth and Percy had ended things just a week ago and he felt so relieved. They decided to become friends in the near future not right away seeing as how awkward and forced it would feel...

_It's not like you're my boyfriend..._

No, Percy wasn't his boyfriend, but the idea that someone else might be Nico's boyfriend sent anger through his body. He couldn't deny his attraction to the brown eyed boy anymore, these feelings sprung up so quietly on Percy. He never noticed how rooted they had become, they had taken residence in his heart and mind and he couldn't think of his life without Nico anymore.

He couldn't just sit here and let Nico walk away, he had to do something, he had to take some form of action... he had to tell Nico how he felt.

But... did Nico feel the same way about Percy?

That he didn't know...

_Man up! _He thought to himself, Percy got up and grabbed his jacket. He didn't care if Nico felt the same way for him or not, although he was hoping Nico did, he needed to tell Nico that he liked him, more than a friend and he needed to tell him tonight.

Percy jogged all the way to Nico's house and rang the doorbell to his apartment. The buzzer sounded out, letting him in and Percy ran up the stairs to the second floor. The door opened and there was Will standing in the doorway, his jacket on.

"Oh," Will blinked in surprise, "Percy?"

Percy worked his jaw, he hated seeing Will here, he had nothing against the guy, but he could not and would not let him take Nico away.

"Percy?" Nico stepped out from behind.

"Hey Will, hey Nico..."

"What do you want?" Nico asked in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I better get going, let me know how that pie tastes like okay? Bye Neeks," Will ruffled Nico's hair and bent down to kiss him on the cheek. Nico blushed momentarily and then, Will said goodbye to Percy and left.

"What was he doing here?"

"Why do you keep asking me questions that have nothing to do with you?" Nico glared over at Percy.

Percy let himself in and let out a frustrated groan.

"What do you want?" Nico asked again.

Percy wasn't thinking in the moment, because if he was, he certainly would've done things a lot differently. He ran over to Nico, pinned him to wall and kissed him fiercely. Nico stood frozen in shock before he slowly tangled his hands in Percy's hair, kissing him back. Percy pulled away, pecking Nico's lips once more.

"I don't how or- or when but, I- my feelings for you... I like you Nico, I really _really _like you."

"A-are you joking? Are you playing some prank on me? Because if you are..." Nico's voice trembled as he looked away. "You- can't like me... guys like you don't fall for guys like me..."

Percy grabbed Nico's chin and forced the brown eyed boy to look at him straight int the eyes, those sea green eyes of his pierced Nico on the spot.

"I _like _you, I like you a lot, guys like me can fall for guys like you... anyway, you're perfect just the way you are Nico." Percy kissed Nico once more to prove his point.

"What about Annabeth?" Nico asked once they broke apart.

"We're done, we've been done months ago, just... holding on to something that died long ago..."

"Percy... I- I have loved you- ever since I first saw you three years ago... my feelings for you are no joke, I can't have you doubting your feelings for me... that would hurt more than anything..."

"Don't worry Nico, I'm not joking," Percy looked at Nico with a serious expression on his face, "I like you, so much, I want to be with you."

"Okay..."

"Okay, good."

* * *

><p>The next day, Will came to the bookstore and kissed an unsuspecting Nico on the cheek. "Hey Nico," Will smiled brightly at him.<p>

"Will... um, listen we need to talk..."

Will furrowed his eyebrows, "okay?"

They moved to sit down in a quiet section of the bookstore. Nico fiddled with his hands as he thought about what to say to Will.

"So, um.. I don't know how to say this... especially since you've been so great and everything... but-"

"Let me guess, you're dating Percy?" Will interrupted Nico.

Nico snapped his head in Will's direction, shock evident on his face, "h-how did you know?"

"I kinda figured it out..." Will shrugged, his mood had deflated and Nico felt bad, guilty.

"I- I'm sorry..."

"Don't be... I understand, maybe we can be friends?"

"Sure, we can be friends," Nico nodded his head.

They stood up and headed out. Once out in the open, Will and Nico stumbled upon Percy, a bouquet of flowers in his hands when he saw Will and Nico together.

"Hey Percy, treat him right, Nico is... special... don't hurt him," Will said a bit sadly as he waved goodbye.

"Thanks," Percy said before Will could leave. He looked back at Nico and smiled, "I got you flowers."

"Thank you," Nico laughed softly.

_One night had changed both of their lives, their love was new but it would last a lifetime._

* * *

><p><em>And so, that is a wrap! I hope you liked it? Tell me what your thoughts are? Thanks for reading!<em>


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